Achievements

As a result of Football Aid's fundraising, Field of Dreams has awarded the following grants over the years:

Diabetes Awards to Date include:

Over £112,000 to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) over the past few years.

JDRF have received 3 grants from Field of Dreams, the most recent being £50,000 towards their work in creating a ‘closed loop’ artificial pancreas. The project is led by Dr Roman Hovorka and it is hoped the device will allow users to more tightly control their blood glucose levels without the need for repeated jabs to test blood and give insulin, giving people with diabetes more flexible lifestyles and defend them better from complications.

The remaining 2 awards of £30,000 in 2001 and £32,968 in 2002 have helped fund the Super Beta Cell project, a scientific investigation aimed primarily at finding a cure for diabetes.

£100,000 over 2 years to Diabetes UK.

Diabetes UK received £100,000 from Field of Dreams to support the first phase of their stem cell research project with Professor Peter Jones. The work has the potential to make a major impact on the treatment of Type 1 Diabetes, in terms of both improving the quality of life for recipients and in reducing healthcare costs. On receiving the grant, Diabetes UK commented, "We could not continue to provide the current levels of care, research and campaigning without the generous assistance of supporters as Diabetes UK is almost entirely dependent on voluntary donations."

"Thank you for every effort and thought that you and your colleagues at Field of Dreams and Football Aid have put into funding projects at Diabetes UK."

£22,700 to Yorkhill Hospital for Sick Kids towards insulin pumps for children.

Alison Johnson, Chief Dietitian at Yorkhill Hospital explains the positive difference the Field of Dreams' grants for insulin pumps have made, "These state of the art pumps provide the appropriate dose of insulin required and are quick and easy to program."

"For certain individuals, these pumps can completely revolutionize the way they manage their diabetes, meaning an end to the regular insulin injections they have had to administer themselves over the years. It makes meal times a lot more flexible and gives them a greater deal of independence."

Club and Partner Nominated Charity Awards include:

Over £113,000 to UNICEF UK

Over the past 4 years, through Manchester United (and the United for UNICEF project), we have awarded over £113,000 to UNICEF UK towards a number of projects: an alternative educational programme in West Bengal; a Buddhist Leadership Initiative for HIV/AIDS care and prevention activities; and a project combating trafficking of women and children in China. For further information, please visit the Manchester United Team Page at Events and Matches.

£78,000 to the Prince's Trust

Through its partnership with the FAPL, The Prince's Trust has received a total of £78,000 from Field of Dreams since 2002. With this funding, The Prince's Trust in London has helped young ex-offenders get their lives back on track with a dedicated support worker, responsible for visiting and signposting young offenders onto Trust programmes. Young people in the Trust's South West region also received funding for football-themed Group Awards enabling 14-25 year olds to design and run projects, which meet local community needs whilst improving their practical and 'soft' skills such as communication, responsibility and project management.

In addition, the grants enabled the Trust to work with 20 unemployed young people in Blackburn through their ‘Get off the Bench’ (GOTB) programme, which uses the power of football to motivate through a unique personal development opportunity.

Royston Lindley, who attended the GOTB programme said, “The Prince's Trust through GOTB has transformed my life. I was unemployed going nowhere sitting watching TV all day. I have started college, joined a gym, become a help coach with The Prince's Trust, I am waiting to start a level 2 coaching award and will now be a peer mentor on the next programme!”

£15,000 to Special Olympics Great Britain towards further development of football and the staging of Football Week in 2006.

On receiving the award, Chief Executive of Special Olympics Great Britain, Chris Hooper said: "On behalf of the 7000 competitors in Special Olympics, a big thank you to Football Aid and the FAPL. This grant will enable a significant number of young people with learning disabilities across the UK to benefit from football. Special Olympics is growing, football is a growth sport and this grant will have a great impact on the success of our National Football Week this spring."

FA Premier League Chairman, Dave Richards, who was delighted to be able to present the cheque to Chris, continued: "I am thrilled to be able to hand this £15,000 cheque to the Special Olympics. Football Aid has been a phenomenal success and I am extremely proud of the part the Premier League and all of our clubs have played in it."

"The positive impact Football Aid and Field of Dreams has had on research into diabetes is renowned. But the fact that it is helping events such as the Special Olympics only serves to underline the reach it now has."

This is just a small sample of charities to benefit from the work of Football Aid and Field of Dreams. For details of the latest awards, please visit our News and Match Reports page or if you want to find information on your chosen Club's nominated charities, visit your team page at Events and Matches.